Updated 11.10am - SDM to hold silent protest 

Migrants who risked losing their benefits unless they procured a passport from their country of origin will continue to enjoy the same rights after the government made a U-turn.

The 1,300 migrants who enjoyed Temporary Humanitarian Protection New (THPn) status were informed last November the status would end by October 31 this year. This meant they would lose all benefits and become deportable unless they obtained a passport.

Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela said yesterday Cabinet had decided that migrants with THPn status would continue to enjoy the same benefits after October, irrespective of whether they managed to get identity documents.

READ: Media houses unite for THPn appeal

Despite the policy change, the minister denied it was a U-turn and insisted it was not a regularisation process for migrants with THPn status.

“We have to be wary of regularising failed asylum seekers, because it could send the wrong message and cause more problems,” Mr Abela said, adding this was a grey area not only for Malta but also across the EU.

We have to be wary of regularising failed asylum seekers, because it could send the wrong message

Human rights groups have always maintained that THPn status, which was first granted in 2010, was a form of regularisation. It was given to those who “through no fault of their own” could not be returned to their home country.

THPn applicants had to have arrived in Malta before 2008 and were required to fulfil criteria such as employment, independent housing and fiscal contributions. The rest were classified simply as failed asylum seekers.

READ: NGOs swamped with calls from employers concerned about changes

Mr Abela said the government would decide on “new administrative processes” in due course to replace THPn status.

The decision should come as a reprieve for THPn status holders, who were thrust into desperation and uncertainty in November.

They have feared deportation, something which human rights groups insisted was not possible with THPn status.

Most of these migrants have been working and paying national insurance contributions for years, and some having integrated well into Maltese society.

Last month, the migrants took their appeal to President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, who had earlier – in her Republic Day speech – urged  a more humane approach to migrants.

Mr Abela insisted yesterday that nobody could be deported unless they had identity documents issued by their home country and were accepted by it.

“This has always been the case, because it is international law,” he said, clarifying the matter.

Earlier this month, the Times of Malta, Malta Today and The Malta Independent took a joint stand to call on the government to review Malta’s arbitrary system of Temporary Humanitarian Protection.

The three news outlets said that the protection status had effectively put the lives of hundreds of migrants in limbo.

Silent protest

In a statement, student group SDM said that it would be holding a silent protest at the University of Malta quadrangle today at 6.15pm in solidarity with affected migrants.  

The group said that recently-proposed measures were "neither sensible nor sustainable." 

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